The Ferguson Police Department suspended a spokesman for calling slain teen Michael Brown‘s memorial site, “a pile of trash”. According to The Associated Press, the city didn’t identify the name of the officer who made the crude remark, when they gave The Washington Post a statement. The newspaper did however learn the comments was made by Officer Tim Zoll, after they contacted the police department to gain information about the destroyed memorial site. On Christmas night, the memorial site where Brown was killed by former police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9 was destroyed after a car apparently ran over it.

The Post contacted the Ferguson Police Department to get a comment about the incident where Zoll said:

I don’t know that a crime has occurred. But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? That Washington Post is making a call over this?

Dang do you have any type of respect for the dead?? At first the city claimed Zoll denied making the insensitive remarks, but he finally admitted he “mislead”(also known as LIED!) to his superiors. Zoll has been put on unpaid leave while the department begins “disciplinary proceedings” against him. Zoll told a local CBS affiliate KMOX-TV in a phone interview the newspaper “misquoted and misunderstood” him. How convenient. City officials have denounced Zoll’s nasty remarks about Brown’s memorial and released a statement saying:

Earlier this week, the Public Information Officer for the City of Ferguson Police Department responded to an inquiry from a Washington Post reporter regarding the destruction of the Michael Brown memorial.

Upon being confronted with the results of the Ferguson Police Department’s investigation regarding the remarks that were attributed to the Public Information Officer, the officer admitted to Department investigators that he did in fact make the remarks attributed to him, and that he misled his superiors when asked about the contents of the interview. The officer has been placed on unpaid leave, effective immediately, while disciplinary proceedings begin. The City of Ferguson wants to emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of City officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location. The Ferguson Police Department also wants to note that even after the officer’s initial denial of his statement; the Police Chief continued the investigation until the truth was discovered. The City of Ferguson and the Ferguson Police Department in particular, are focused on creating a trusting relationship with the entire community and taking impactful steps to improve the effectiveness of the department.